Pressure-Driven Metallization in Hafnium Diselenide.

The quest for new transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with outstanding electronic properties operating under ambient conditions draws us to investigate the 1T-HfSe2 polytype under hydrostatic pressure. Diamond anvil cell (DAC) devices coupled to in situ synchrotron X-ray, Raman, and optical (VIS-NIR) absorption experiments along with density functional theory (DFT)-based calculations prove that (i) bulk 1T-HfSe2 exhibits strong structural and vibrational anisotropies, being the interlayer direction especially sensitive to pressure changes, (ii) the indirect gap of 1T-HfSe2 tends to vanish by a -0.1 eV/GPa pressure rate, slightly faster than MoS2 or WS2, (iii) the onset of the metallic behavior appears at Pmet ∼10 GPa, which is to date the lowest pressure among common TMDs, and finally, (iv) the electronic transition is explained by the bulk modulus B0-Pmet correlation, along with the pressure coefficient of the band gap, in terms of the electronic overlap between chalcogenide p-type and metal d-type orbitals. Overall, our findings identify 1T-HfSe2 as a new efficient TMD material with potential multipurpose technological applications.

Crystal-field mediated electronic transitions of EuS up to 35 GPa.

An advanced experimental and theoretical model to explain the correlation between the electronic and local structure of Eu[Formula: see text] in two different environments within a same compound, EuS, is presented. EuX monochalcogenides (X: O, S, Se, Te) exhibit anomalies in all their properties around 14 GPa with a semiconductor to metal transition. Although it is known that these changes are related to the [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] [Formula: see text] electronic transition, no consistent model of the pressure-induced modifications of the electronic structure currently exists. We show, by optical and x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and by ab initio calculations up to 35 GPa, that the pressure evolution of the crystal field plays a major role in triggering the observed electronic transitions from semiconductor to the half-metal and finally to the metallic state.

Pressure-and temperature induced phase transitions, piezochromism, NLC behaviour and pressure controlled Jahn-Teller switching in a Cu-based framework.

In situ single-crystal diffraction and spectroscopic techniques have been used to study a previously unreported Cu-framework bis[1-(4-pyridyl)butane-1,3-dione]copper(ii) (CuPyr-I). CuPyr-I was found to exhibit high-pressure and low-temperature phase transitions, piezochromism, negative linear compressibility, and a pressure induced Jahn-Teller switch, where the switching pressure was hydrostatic media dependent.

Pressure-induced spin transition and site-selective metallization in CoCl2.

The interplay between spin states and metallization in compressed CoCl2 is investigated by combining diffraction, resistivity and spectroscopy techniques under high-pressure conditions and ab-initio calculations. A pressure-induced metallization along with a Co2+ high-spin (S = 3/2) to low-spin (S = 1/2) crossover transition is observed at high pressure near 70 GPa. This metallization process, which is associated with the p-d charge-transfer band gap closure, maintains the localization of 3d electrons around Co2+, demonstrating that metallization and localized Co2+ -3d low-spin magnetism can coexist prior to the full 3d-electron delocalization (Mott-Hubbard d-d breakdown) at pressures greater than 180 GPa.

Phase transition sequences in tetramethylammonium tetrachlorometallates by X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic measurements.

The phase transition sequences of two members of the tetramethylammonium tetrachlorometallate(III) family of hybrid organic-inorganic salts have been determined and structurally characterized as a function of temperature for the first time. Unusually, a reduction in point-group symmetry with increasing temperature until reaching a cubic prototype phase is observed. Two additional intermediate phases are observed for Fe3+. First-principles calculations and the presence of short Cl...Cl contacts for Ga3+ suggest the [GaCl4]- anion to be conformationally hindered due to stronger lone-pair-σ-hole interactions. The conformationally more flexible Fe3+ structures show sublattice melting with the onset of rotational disorder in the [NMe4]+ cations occurring 40 K below the corresponding onset of rotational disorder in the [FeCl4]- sublattice.